Hundreds of customers flocked to The Range in Croydon as it officially opened its door for the first time.

The exciting new shop, based on Purley Way in the building previously occupied by Homebase, which closed in September, opened at 9am on Friday morning (November 22).

The first 50 people through the doors had the chance to win what the store called "fabulous giveaways", while there are also a selection of "one off" deals available on certain items throughout the opening weekend.

The mayor of Croydon, Bernadette Khan, was on hand to officially open the value home, leisure and garden chain. The mayor also had a go at serving customers, who hunted around the store in search of the best bargains.

Staff were on hand to give out mince pies (Image: Grant Melton)

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During the opening morning, store manager Chris Haddon and deputy store manager Emma Harris ensured everything ran as smoothly as possible, while staff were on hand to hand out Christmas treats such as mince pies to customers.

Our photographer Grant Melton was at the opening on Friday morning and he said: "It was very busy, it’s really big and well stocked in there. It actually seems like a really nice place to shop to be honest.

"It’s probably one of the nicest stores around when you compare it to the other [The Range stores] nearby. It’s a huge store and it was a nice place.

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"It was really exciting, the coffee from the café was fantastic and it had a nice feel to it."

Shoppers flocked to the store for the opening (Image: Grant Melton)

As well as the Dee Dee's Family Café, the store boasts a mezzanine and a large outdoor garden centre selling a wide selection of real Christmas trees.

More than 80 jobs have been created at the Croydon store, including full and part-time roles, in a wide variety of positions - from store and department managers, to warehouse assistants and retail administrators.

The Dee Dee's Family Café is now open for business (Image: Grant Melton)

The news is welcome after the town lost a source of employment when DIY chain Homebase shut.

What is The Range?

A home, leisure and gardening retailer, The Range has proved popular by trying to offer value for money products.

The Range sells more than 16,000 products (Image: Grant Melton)

There are more than 160 branches of The Range across the UK and Ireland.

The Range has 16 different departments across its stores and sells more than 65,000 products at "good value prices", including homeware, furniture, garden, textiles, arts and crafts and DIY.